Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
Passphrase unavailable
Cases in this category involve wallets protected by a passphrase that could not be recovered. Even where the seed phrase was available, passphrase unavailability blocked access.
Passphrase unavailability differs from seed unavailability in that it often arises years after setup, when memory of an infrequently used passphrase has faded. Cases in this category frequently involve users who understood the concept of a passphrase but underestimated the precision required to reproduce it exactly. Even small variations in capitalization, spacing, or punctuation produce a different wallet.
217 observed cases
Blocked
152 (70%)
Constrained
2 (1%)
Survives
51 (24%)
Indeterminate
12 (6%)
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
The widely-reported case of Stefan Thomas, a Bitcoin developer with 7,002 BTC on an IronKey encrypted drive, reached public attention in January 2021. Thomas co
The passphrase had been in daily use for one year in 2017–2018 then completely unused.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had purchased during the 2017 peak found in February 2021, with BTC near its ATH, that they could not recall the passphrase to a wallet con
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A June 2021 case describes a user who had set their passphrase to the name of a deceased parent combined with a birth year. They were certain of the parent's na
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had transferred their passphrase responsibility to a password manager with biometric entry found in March 2021 that biometric data from a reconstruct
The original image file was lost when a web hosting service was discontinued.
Mobile or software wallet
A user's wallet passphrase was embedded as a watermark in a digital image file they had created in 2013. The original image file was lost when a web hosting ser
Paper wallet faded — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
An August 2021 forum case describes a user who had used the first line of a private poem they wrote in 2013 as their passphrase. The poem existed only in their
The Tweet had referenced a specific date and 'the usual' — an ambiguous hint
Mobile or software wallet
A user found in April 2021 that they had created a passphrase hint in a now-deleted Tweet from 2013. The Tweet had referenced a specific date and 'the usual' —
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had used a formula from a textbook they studied in 2013 as their passphrase found in May 2021 that the textbook had multiple editions with slightly d
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user found in May 2021 that their passphrase had been written in a private diary that a family member had accidentally donated to a charity shop. The diary ha
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder's passphrase was derived from coordinates they had taken at a specific location during a trip in 2013. They could not recall which specific poi
The scrapping records and DVLA records showed only the current registered keeper of
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin trader's passphrase was based on the name and registration number of a vehicle they had owned in 2013. The vehicle had been written off and scrapped.
Their GitHub archive from that period was incomplete.
Mobile or software wallet
A programmer's wallet passphrase was the hash of a function they had written in 2013. By 2021 they could not recall which function they had hashed or the exact
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin developer found in September 2021 that a passphrase stored in a text file had been overwritten when they accidentally saved an empty document to the s
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A November 2021 case describes a user whose passphrase was the full name of a minor celebrity known from a niche hobby community. The celebrity had changed thei
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A December 2021 case describes a user who had set their wallet passphrase to a phrase from a private email they had sent in 2013. The email had been archived bu
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user found in September 2021 that they had created two different wallets with similar but distinct passphrases in 2013. They had since merged their notes and
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor who had created a wallet during the COVID lockdowns of 2020 found in January 2021 that their passphrase, created while under significant stre
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had used a passphrase derived from a mathematical constant to an unusual number of decimal places found in February 2021 they could no long
The password manager account was locked due to suspicious activity detection in April
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had set an exceptionally secure passphrase in 2016 — a 40-character random string — stored it only in their password manager. The password manager ac
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had used a stock ticker symbol and date combination as their passphrase found in July 2021 that the stock had undergone multiple ticker cha
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2020
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor found in October 2020 that a passphrase stored in their deceased parent's handwriting was partially illegible due to deterioration of the pap
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2020)
Mobile or software wallet
Stefan Thomas, a Bitcoin developer who held 7,002 BTC on an encrypted IronKey drive, was reported in 2021 to have had only two remaining password attempts left
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2020
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had used a sequence of numbers from an analogue electricity meter as their passphrase found in January 2020 that the meter had been replace
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2020
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had created a wallet during the 2017 bull run found in February 2020 that their passphrase hint — stored in their phone's notes app — was i
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2020
Mobile or software wallet
A user whose Bitcoin wallet passphrase was encoded in a physical key's teeth pattern — photographed and the key discarded — found in February 2020 that the phot
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